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Van Andel Arena seats more than 12,000 fans, is the highest-grossing arena in the country of its size and rated a top venue by industry trade media. Photo via fb.com

Orion Construction will make it official on Tuesday.

The multi-service construction company will unveil its plans for a new $28-million development it will put up on a parking lot just west of the Van Andel Arena, which is owned by the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority.

Company officials, such as co-founders Gary Postma and John Boonstra, will be joined at the event by Mayor George Heartwell, development partners like Ray Kisor of Colliers International, major tenants and others.

Arena Place

The construction plan for the development, called Arena Place, reportedly calls for a 50,000-square-foot office building and an 80-unit apartment complex.

The apartments will be of the market-rate variety and include studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom units. The development will be designed with a European flair.

The first floors of both buildings will have 13,000 square feet set aside for retail and restaurant use.

The project also includes 82 below-ground parking spaces and 42 surface spaces for a total of 124.

The office structure would become the first new Class A building of its type downtown in the last 20 years.

The development is planned for the Area 1 lot on Ottawa Avenue SW, between Weston and Oakes streets, near the arena and Bistro Bella Vita restaurant.

Grand Rapids-based Orion entered into a one-year option with the DDA to purchase the lot in May at a cost of $50,000, a fee that isn’t refundable, but will be applied to an eventual purchase. The lot carries a price tag of $2.25 million.

The DDA listed the lot for sale in April, and Orion and its partners, doing business as Arena Place Development for the project, submitted the lone offer.

Arena Place is the first project to be announced following the completion of the DDA’s visioning plan for its parking lots located near and south of the arena.

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